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Pluto
Pluto is the god of the Underworld in Roman mythology. His Greek counterpart was Hades. Pluto chose never to sit on Olympus with the other gods and goddesses, preferring to remain in the Underworld. Family Pluto (Hades) was the son...
Definition
Satyr
Satyrs (aka silens) are figures from Greek mythology who were followers of the god of wine Dionysos. Satyrs were often guilty of excessive sexual desires and overindulgence of wine. Men with a horse's tail and ears or men with goat legs...
Definition
Zephyrus
Zephyrus was the god of the west wind and the messenger of spring in Greek mythology. He was known as one of the four Anemoi, or wind gods, each of whom represented a cardinal direction and, except for Eurus, a season. Zephyrus was often...
Definition
Tiryns
Located on the fertile Argolid plain, Tiryns lies between Nafplion and Argos in the eastern Peloponnese in Greece. The site has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age (7th-4th millennium BCE) but reached its greatest period of importance...
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Odysseus
A 2nd century CE Roman statuette of the Greek hero Odysseus. Here he holds a cup of wine in offering to the Cyclops Polyphemus. By getting him drunk the hero was able to blind Polyphemus and escape from the Cyclops' cave to continue his voyage...
Article
Medieval Knights: 12 of the Best
The knights of medieval Europe were meant to be the finest fighting men of their age, even more important, they were expected to be pure in thought and deed, as exemplified in the chivalrous code which they (usually) followed. Here are the...
Article
The Minoans & Mycenaeans: Comparison of Two Bronze Age Civilisations
The Bronze Age Aegean in the eastern Mediterranean encompassed several powerful entities: the Minoans on Crete; the Mycenaeans on mainland Greece, and the Cypriots on Cyprus. These cultures are often examined separately, and thus the ample...
Article
The Invention of the First Coinage in Ancient Lydia
Money may take many forms, from the digital code of cryptocurrency to the woodpecker scalps favoured in early California. People have also used cattle, cacao beans, cowrie shells, chewing gum, grain, and giant stones as money. Early cultures...
Article
Nero's Golden House (Domus Aurea)
Nero's Golden House (the Domus Aurea) in Rome was a sumptuous palace complex which played host to the wild parties of one of Rome's most notorious emperors. Besides using the finest marble and decoration such as fine wall-painting and gilded...
Article
Boethius: First of the Medievals?
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c. 477-524/525) was a scholar in Late Antiquity who was imprisoned and executed by Theodoric (r. 493-526 CE) but was later idolised by medieval intellectuals. His most famous work was De consolatione philosophiae...